KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A federal jury convicted an elderly nun and two other peace activists
yesterday for damage they caused in breaking into a defense facility where enriched uranium for
nuclear bombs is stored.

Sister Megan Rice, who was 82 at the time of the incident, Michael Walli and Greg Boertje-Obed
admitted cutting fences and making their way across the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak
Ridge, Tenn., in July 2012.

Jurors deliberated for about 21/2 hours before reading the verdict in Knoxville federal court.
Rice stood straight up and smiled when it was read. Supporters of the three gasped, and some began
to cry before singing a hymn as the judge left the courtroom.

All three were convicted of damaging a national-defense premises, which carries a prison
sentence of up to 20 years, and of causing more than $1,000 of damage to U.S. government property,
which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

A detention hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. today before U.S. District Judge Amul Thapar.

Prosecutors said the break-in at Y-12, the primary U.S. site for processing and storage of
enriched uranium, disrupted operations, endangered U.S. national security and caused physical
damage that cost more than $8,500 to repair.

“We are a nation of laws. You can’t take the law into your own hands and force your views on
other people,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Theodore had said in a closing argument that called
the facility “a critical part of our national defense.”

The activists admitted cutting several fences, walking through the complex for hours,
spray-painting slogans and hammering on the walls of the facility. When guard Kirk Garland
confronted them, they offered him food and began singing.

Defense attorneys said the activists, who belong to a group called Transform Now Plowshares, had
taken part in a symbolic break-in that did not harm the facility. They had no intent to harm the
facility, and the damage cost was overstated, they said.

The breach sparked investigations by Congress and the Energy Department, which oversees nuclear
facilities. A department inspector general’s report in August found “troubling displays of
ineptitude” at the complex.

Shortly after the incident, the top security official at the National Nuclear Security
Administration and two other federal officials were reassigned.

Also, top officials at WSI, the international security company that provided security at Oak
Ridge, were removed, and officers were fired, demoted or suspended.